Philadelphia Eagles: Excessive passing will hurt Carson Wentz
By Pete Sawan
After a surprisingly close loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles need to rethink their coaching scheme in favor of Carson Wentz.
Wow, yesterday’s game presents a ton of questions for the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously, the team was plagued with injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Already without Ronald Darby, the Birds lost safety Rodney McLeod and cornerback Jaylen Watkins to hamstring injuries. The secondary continues to wither away for Philly. But, the offensive side of the ball may have a few more questions in the big picture for quarterback Carson Wentz.
Now, Eagles fans should not feel worried about Wentz himself. He did what he could given the circumstances yesterday. However, head coach Doug Pederson has not done Wentz any favors. Specifically, in regards to the pass-run ratio. Yesterday, the Eagles ran the ball 13 times. 13 TIMES! Imagine another scenario where a team runs the ball that little. That’s right, you can’t.
Of those 13 designed run plays, 10 went to Darren Sproles and three went to Wendell Smallwood. Guess how many LeGarrette Blount had. Yep, zero! Blount ran the ball as many times as I did yesterday. Why do you ask? Well, I can’t speak for Pederson, who had complete control over the play calling. Ultimately, he had the final say on this matter.
Of course, Pederson always believed in the pass-first “West Coast” offense that he learned from current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. That’s his bread and butter. But, the fact that of 59 total offensive plays they ran the ball 22 percent of the time boggles my mind. This put a ton of extra pressure on Wentz.
Now, you might be asking yourself whether or not any of this should matter. I mean, if Wentz is so good then why does any of this play calling mumbo jumbo affect anything? Well, given the fact that Wentz completed 25 passes yesterday, it does matter. He completed 54.3 percent of his passes yesterday. If he had been given some help in the running game, that stat would look a lot different.
Normally, a quarterback completing 25 passes is a good thing. For instance, Alex Smith only made 21 passes yesterday, BUT, he attempted 28 in total. This resulted in a 75 percent completion percentage. On top of that, the Chiefs ran the ball 13 times with Kareem Hunt. Now, he wasn’t having himself the best game until the second half when he broke off a big run for a touchdown, but still. You have to give Reid credit for not completely abandoning the run. At the end of the day, the Chiefs got off fewer plays but made the most of the ones they had.
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As a result, the Philadelphia Eagles need to rethink their coaching philosophy a little. Now, I know Pederson will likely stick with the passing game, but come on. Give Carson Wentz some help, for crying out loud. With a backfield of five total running backs, why not give guys like Blount and Corey Clement more reps? Even Smallwood, who got blown up on one of his runs, could have benefited from a heavier workload. Hopefully, the Eagles figure something out and fast.